Bendy robot 'wrist' could make surgery quicker and recovery faster

Doctors -- or robots -- could gain the ability to "turn a corner' inside a human body thanks to a new, dextrous and bendy wrist.

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Needlescopic surgery -- using implements that have been shrunk down to squeeze through minute incisions -- is designed to be as minimally invasive as possible. But once inside the body, the amount of dexterity available is slim to none.

Medical engineers and doctors from Vanderbilt University are trying to tackle that, with a tiny mechanical wrist that can be attached to surgical robots. The prototype wrist was built by taking a very small tube -- itself about the size of a needle -- cutting notches in the tip and running a wire down the inside. When the surgeon, or the robot, pulls on the wire, the tip can bend.

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The wrist has been designed to give the surgeon the ability to turn a corner, which will help them tie knots or dissect small objects. Researchers believe that the device has the potential to be used in lots of different types of surgery.

Vanderbilt University

"Adding the wrists to the steerable needles greatly expands the system's usefulness," said Professor of Urological Surgery Duke Herrell. "There are a myriad of potential applications in some really exciting areas such as endoscopic neurosurgery, operating within small lumens such as the ear, bronchus, urethra, etc. This would allow us to do surgeries that at present require much larger incisions and may even enable us to perform operations that are not feasible at present."

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One form of surgery they are sure it will be able to help with however it transnasal brain surgery. This procedure sees surgeons remove tumours through the nose, meaning there is no need to open the skull up. A similar technique can be used to operate on tumours in the neck or the throat. The benefits also extend into the recovery period, which is obviously faster, and ensures the patient has no visible scar.

"The smaller you can make surgical instruments the better...as long as you can maintain an adequate degree of dexterity," said Herrell, who is consulting on the project. "In my experience, the smaller the instruments, the less postoperative pain patients experience and the faster they recover."

It will of course take a while for the device to arrive in operating theatres. Researchers believe they will be able to attach the working prototype onto surgical robots by the end of this summer, but then the wrist must be commercialised before it receives FDA approval. Even in the best-case scenario, it could be five years before this is used in practice.